Carousel



Sept. 17, 1963 Filed Oct. 10, 1960 J [L 3/ 52 v 48 3/ 3/ J g 43 /7 w 4 I v 2.4

m I fkussr L One/5M4, 30 3/ INVENTOR.

Sept. 17', 1963 E. L. CHRISMAN 3,104,102

CAROUSEL Filed Oct. 10, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 46 4752 INVENTOR. W664 NA/ 1 44 MA N/GA l.

United States Patent 3,104,102 CAROUSEL Ernest L. Chrism'an, Downey, Calif., assignor to Weber Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif., 'a corporation of California Filed Oct. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 61,464 8 Claims. (Cl. 272-33) This invention relates to a toy which is rotated by the occupants, and more particularly to a carousel which is rotated by pivoting the seat-(forming members, such as horses, upwardly and downwardly.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved carousel which is operated by the riders.

it is another object of the invention to provide a carousel in which pivoting of the seateforming animals on their rear legs, to simulate riding, causes the carousel to be rotated.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a carousel in which up and down pivoting movement of the riders is translated to horizontal rotation of the carousel.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a carousel which is easily operated by one or more children.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a carousel in which linkages outwardly of the axis of rotation drive the hub on the axis to cause the carousel to rotate.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carousel which is safe to operate and economical to manufacture.

Further objects and advantages of the invention may be brought out in the following part of the specification wherein small details have been described for the com petence of disclosure, without intending to limit the scope of the invention which is set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the invention partially in cross section and with portions of the invention cutaway;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken as indicated by the line 4-4 in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken as indicated by the line 5-5 in FIG. 1.

Referring again to the drawings, the carousel, generally designated as 10, as shown in FIG. 1 to be supported by a tripod 11 into which extends a vertical tubular support 12, as indicated in FIG. 5. At the upper end of support 12 is secured a bearing supporting flange 13, and as best seen in FIG. 4, fixed in tubular support 12, extending upwardly through flange -13 is center shaft '16.

Surrounding shaft 16 is rotatable hub 17, supported on thrust bearing 18 and supported radially by bearings 19 adjacent both its ends with a bearing spacer 22 therebetween.

Extending radially outwardly from hub 17 are four equally spaced horizontal support members 23. As

shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, vertical platform support rods- 24 are secured at their upper ends to horizontal support members 23 and are secured at their lower ends to the carousel platform 25 so as to support it upwardly. The support 12, as shown in FIG. 3, extends upwardly through opening 28 in platform 25, and, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, platform 25 has rollers 29 secured thereunder to be in rotational contact with support member 12 when the carousel is rotated.

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Extending upwardly from and secured to the platform 25 are four circumfer'entially spaced brackets 30 to which animal supporting members 31 are pivotally engaged at their rear ends 34. Pivotally engaged to the front ends 35 of the animal supports 31 are vertical links 36, the links 36 being pivotally engaged 'at their upper ends 37 to rocking arms 40. Each of the four rocking arms are formed by a pair of cars respectively secured to one of four horizontal rotatable bars 41, as best seen in FIG. 3. The bars 41 are supported for rotation at substantial right angles to each other by brackets 42 secured on the ends of each of the horizontal supporting members 23, the members 23' being diagonals of the rectangle formed by the bars 41 so as to provide a stable structure.

Extending upwardly from each of the respective bars 41 is a link 43 formed by two spaced parallel ears which are fixed to the bars. Pivotally engaged with and extending inwardly from links 43 are four driving arms 46. The driving arms extending from opposite sides of the rectangle formed by the bars 41 form straight lines which intersect at a point spaced from the axis of the shaft 16 and the center of the carousel. Around this eccentric point at their inner ends they are pivotally engaged to a rotatable spider 47. Supporting the spider is eccentric arm 48 in turn supported on shaft =16 to which it is fixed by means of pin 49. Spider 47 is secured to arm 48 by bolt 52 about which it is rotatable, the eccentric axis of the carousel being coincident with the vertical center line of bolt 52. By this arrangement the eccentric.

arm 48 forms a fixed lever arm, whose length is the distance between the axisof shaft 16 and the axis of bolt 52.

In operation the carousel will function in the same manner if there are riders on all four horses or if there is only one rider on one horse. This, to produce the desired rotation of the platform and the animals and riders thereon, at least one of the riders must act to change the vertical position of the front end 35 of the generally horizontal animal supports 31. For example, to start the rotation, a rider on the center horse in FIG. 1 must exert pressure with his feet against the top of the platform so as to move the support 31 from the lower full line position to the upper phanton line posiiton. As this occurs the vertical link 36 is moved upwardly so as to pivot the outer end of its rocking arm 40 upwardly and thereby rotate the connected horizontal bar 41. This, in turn, tends to move the adjacent driving arm 46 inwardly to effect a rotation of the eccentric arm 48, but since the arm 48 is fixed the force applied to the off center axis causes the carousel to rotate on its shaft 16 and the spider 47 then rotates on the bolt 52. If the rider had been on the horse, unshown in FIG. 1, that is, the one opposite to the center horse shown, his action to rotate the carousel with respect to the support 12 and the tripod would be to force his horse which would be in an upper position, to a lower position, thereby causing the lower bar 41 in FIG. 2 to rotate so as to pull its driving arm 46 away from the bolt 52. Since the driving arm 46 cannot be pulled away from the bolt the carousel must be'rotated so that the rider and his horse take a position closer to the bolt 52, such as in the right side of FIG. 2.

The rotation of the carousel can be better understood if it is remembered that typically the rotation of a body, such as plat-form 25, is produced by the rotation of its supporting and driving shaft, such as -16 might be. However, in the present invention the shaft 16 does not rotate and the rotation of the body which rotates on it is produced by the push-pull effect of the driving arms 46 on the eccentric arm or lever 48. This is, since the :3 driving arms 46 cannot move the arm 48, they must move in rotation with respect to it, and since they are attached to the rotatable bodies supported on a shaft 16, it also must rotate with them.

It is clear that these linkages in their relationship with the rotatable bodies and each other may be used in other forms without departing from the inventive principles disclosed herein relating to the arrangement by which the up and down pivoting movement of the seat supports produce rotation in the carousel.

I claim:

1. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub bearing mounted on said member; a support arm extending outwardly from said hub; an axially rotatable arm supported by said support arm; a horizontal base connected to rotate with said support arm; means connected to said base and operably connected to rotate said rotatable ar-m about its axis; a link member fixed to said rotatable arm; a driving arm pivotally connected at one end to said link member; a fixed eccentric arm supported on said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other end of said driving arm, said driving arm being rotatable about said last mentioned means.

2. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub bearing mounted on said vertical support member; spaced support arms extending outwardly from said hub; axially rotatable arms supported by and extending between respective spaced support arms; a horizontal base connected to rotate with said support arm; means connected to said base and operably connected to each rotatable arm to rotate the same not more than- 90 degrees in each direction about its own axis; a link member fixed to each respective rotatable arm; a driving arm pivotally connected at one end to each respective link member; a horizontally extending fixed eccentric arm supported by said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm horizontally spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other ends of said driving arms, said driving arms being rotatable about said last mentioned means.

3. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub bearing mounted on said vertical sup port member; spaced support arms extending outwardly from said hub; substantially horizontal rotatable bars supported by said support arms; a subtantially horizontal platform supported by members extending downwardly from said support arms; means supported on said platform connected to each rotatable bar to rotate the same not more than 90 degrees in each direction about its own axis; link members each fixed to and extending upwardly from respective rotatable bars; substantially horizontal driving arms each pivotally connected at one end to respective link members; a horizontally extending fixed eccentric arm supported by said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm horizontally spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other end of each driving arm, each driving arm being rotatable about said last mentioned means.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which said vertical support member extends upwardly through an opening in said platform; and roller means on said platform spaced around said opening for rotational engagement with said vertical member.

5. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub bearing mounted on said member; spaced support arms extending outwardly from said hub; substantially horizontal rotatable bars supported by said support arms; a substantially horizontal platform supported by members extending downwardly from said support arms; a rocking arm extending from and fixed on each respective rotatable bar; a substantially horizontal member pivoted at one end thereof to the platform below and adjacent to a respective rotatable bar, the other end of each of said last mentioned members horizontally pivoted to one end of a respective vertical member; the other end of said vertical members being pivoted to a respective and corresponding rocking arm whereby upward and downward movement of said substantially horizontal members rotates their corresponding rotatable bars in respective opposite directions about their own axes; link members each fixed to and extending upwardly from respective rotatable bars; substantially horizontal driving arms each pivotally connected at one end to respective link members; a horizontally extending fixed eccentric arm supported by said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm horizontally spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other ends of said driving arms, said driving arms being rotated about said last mentioned means when said rotatable bars are rotated.

6. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub bearing mounted on said member; a support arm extending outwardly from said hub; an axially rotatable arm supported by said support arm; a horizontal base connected to rotate with said support arm; vertically moving means connected to said base and 0p erably connected to rotate said rotatable arm about its axis; a link member fixed to said rotatable arm; a driving arm pivotally connected at one end to said link member; a fixed eccentric arm on said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other end of said driving arm, said driving arm being rotatable about said last mentioned means.

7. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub beating mounted on said member; a support arm extending outwardly from said hub; a horizontal, axially rotatable arm supported by said support arm; a horizontal base connected to rotate with said support arm; vertically moving means connected by link means to said base and operably connected to rotate said rotatable arm about its axis; a link member fixed to said rotatable arm; a driving and pivotally connected at one end to said link member; a fixed eccentric arm supported on said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other end of said driving arm, said driving arm being rotatable about said last mentioned means.

8. In a carousel: a central vertical support member; a rotatable hub bearing mounted on said central support member; support arms extending outwardly from said hub; substantially horizontal rotatable bars supported by said support arms; a substantially horizontal platform supported by member extending downwardly from said support arms; means supported on said platform operably connected to respective rotatable bars to rotate them about their own axes; link members each fixed to and extending from respective rotatable bars; substantially horizontal driving arms each pivotally connected at one end to respective link members; a horizontally extending fixed eccentric arm supported by said vertical support member; and means on said eccentric arm horizontally spaced from the hub axis operably connected with the other end of each driving arm, each driving arm being rotatable about said last mentioned means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A CAROUSEL: A CENTRAL VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER; A ROTATABLE HUB BEARING MOUNTED ON SAID MEMBER; A SUPPORT ARM EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID HUB; AN AXIALLY ROTATABLE ARM SUPPORTED BY SAID SUPPORT ARM; A HORIZONTAL BASE CONNECTED TO ROTATE WITH SAID SUPPORT ARM; MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID BASE AND OPERABLY CONNECTED TO ROTATE SAID ROTATABLE ARM ABOUT ITS AXIS; A LINK MEMBER FIXED TO SAID ROTATABLE ARM; A DRIVING ARM PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID LINK MEMBER; A FIXED ECCENTRIC ARM SUPPORTED ON SAID VERTICAL SUPPORT MEMBER; AND MEANS ON SAID ECCENTRIC ARM SPACED FROM THE HUB AXIS OPERABLY CONNECTED WITH THE OTHER END OF SAID DRIVING ARM, SAID DRIVING ARM BEING ROTATABLE ABOUT SAID LAST MENTIONED MEANS. 